I am
I remember when I told my mother I was visiting the
Kuje prison. I remember how happy she was that I was embarking on an impactful
journey. She wished me well and even informed other family members who wished
me well too. I found this very awkward, I mean why were these people taking
this so personal? At that point I did not realize the gravity of the position
that I was in and soon I will find out.
The day of the prison visitation came, Monday
the 16th day of April 2018 and we
were a bit late leaving our school for the prison but eventually we started our
journey. Shortly after leaving we started with a prayer to commit the affairs of that day unto the hands of
God. Later our Clinic coordinator Barr.
Chima Madu gave us a pep talk about the task at hand. He urged us to be strong
and emphasized the purpose of our visit. The end goal was to give provide
access to justice so whatever we face at the Kuje prison should not deter us.
And just like that it hit me and I had a mini self reflection in the bus and I
just felt a little bit scared and anxious. I had never really felt anxiety but
this was it; me anxious and scared.
We
arrived at the prison and as expected (thanks Nigeria) there was a lot of delay
from one official to another and we spent almost an hour waiting for all the
confusion to be sorted and all the while we were outside, I just kept praying
that my anxiety should not take the better of me. To make matters even worst, I was asked to
handle the interview for my group; I almost sweat through my shirt.
I wasn’t
anxious because I couldn’t do it but I did not want the detainees to see that I
pitied the situation that they were in. How could I not, even the road that led
to the prison reeked of sadness and disappointment. The prisoners we saw while
waiting looked trapped and even from the smiles they cracked one could tell
that their hearts were heavy.
These
were the thoughts I had in my head and before I fell into a depression of my
own, my mother called me just in time and I told her the thoughts I was having
and with these words “this is beyond you, you have to be the best you can be to
help these people. They need you” I snapped out of my funk. I started to feel
better and I became determined and excited about what I was there to do.
We were
able to sort out the issues we had with going in thanks to a kind Prison warden
and shortly afterwards we were able to start our registration and we went in.
The Kuje prison had some sort of organisation in place. There seemed to be
clearly defined roles for everybody working there and it seemingly was working.
We were later handed neck tags to put on as a means of identification at the
waiting area. Some people were agitating for us to have a tour of the prison and
my heart shook LITERALLY. I had not
prepared my mind for that, I just barely got my self to interview a few
detainees and now they want me to see all the prisoners? I was not ready for
that. I was so relieved when one of the Prison wardens said we did not request
for that so we will not be granted that.
After all
that had happened, from us leaving the faculty of Law to the entire delay at
the prison, we were finally here, sitted at the visiting ground, waiting for
the detainees to come in. My team decided to use the time to quickly go through
the interview questions we had prepared instead of doing nothing.
Our first
detainee interviewee came through bare foot, with torn clothes and a bad odour
as though he had not had a bath in weeks. The second interviewee at least had
on slippers and looked better kept than the first but still, their appearance
was not acceptable.
We
started the interview and I noticed how clear and brilliant they were in
telling their stories. These were not illiterates but victims of circumstance.
We
concluded the interviews and immediately afterwards we had a brief meeting with
my teammates about the interviews and the information we had gathered and next
steps to be taken. This was after we took group pictures.
On our
way back, I reflected on our journey. I noticed that the Prison wardens were
generally unreceptive and unwilling to help as though they get some sort of
benefit from those detainees being there. Also, the physical state of
those detainees was quite alarming. How tattered they looked was so bad. If
this was their physical state, who knows how bad their mental state would be.
This just made me feel bad and just ignited a fire in me to do better and not
have a lenient attitude to these issues. I could do even the littlest thing
rather than doing nothing. The prisons in Nigeria need to be for reformation
rather than condemnation.
This
Prison visit was so important to me as I was able to see and feel the issues
first hand thereby giving me a better understanding of the task ahead for me
personally and the entire citizenry. We must try to be agents of social change
in the society. This will definitely be my attitude moving forward from this
project. And this is as a result of the University of Abuja Law Clinic which
has taught me the skills to be able to help these individuals in this project
and subsequent projects to come as well as other partners such as NULAI and
OSIWA.
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